Preparing for Sunday & Easy Make Ahead Breakfast!

Greetings from our lil' farm! It's been a wet week here, so I've had to catch snippets of time to work in the gardens. During rainy spells we've done a bit of organizing that inevitably needs to be done after living in a new home four months. We did a massive downsizing when we moved from our 100+ acre farm with its' 3,000 square foot home and shop. This week we downsized again in our pantry/laundry room. It feels soooo freeing now that I have just what I need in there! 

We've begun our new summer schedule, and Chairty Rose (12) is my "right hand gal"

during a two hour work time each morning. Today we're making our two month supply of granola. We usually focus more outside during this season, but with all the rain I reasoned it would be wise to plan inside jobs for during the daily showers. 

We incorporate the gardens and daily work into our "summer school".  Levi (14) will earn a half credit in Agricultural Science, while reading living books according to an ancient history timeline to finish his credit in history. Charity writes in her garden journal daily, and I make games to help review this past year's school work .  We call our way of  life a lifestyle of learning. We've been on this home schooling journey as a family since around 1986, and now I even have grandchildren that are being home schooled! What a blessing to pass on that legacy! (Forgive the "Gramma moment"!)

On topic this week I pray I can pass on a little of what the Lord has taught me over the years to make Sunday special for your families. Many years ago I  read an article in a Christian newsletter on making Sundays special. I can't really remember what the author said in the article, but like with my blog, I pray you walk away with what the Lord would have you do with the challenge given! 

                         The Steve Colvin Family 2001

That article changed the way I planned my week, and helped me to prepare to worship despite how our Sunday morning went! You see,  I was like you, and had little ones (5 and under ) for 31 years and nursed for 33 years. I remember changing children's clothes a couple of times before we got out the door, my milk coming down and wetting my blouse so I had to change, breakfast dishes piled by the sink to come home to,  missing shoes at the last moment, and children fussing about where they wanted to sit in the van. Most weeks it was a challenge for me to settle my heart into worship once we got to church even on good days because of all the hustle and bustle!! My struggles may not be yours, but if you hear a hint of what you deal with, be encouraged as this is life with young children. There is good news though! You can come up with strategic ways to help you eliminate/lessen your Sunday challenges to make it a special day for your family!

My first challenge was to find out what God would have us to do. There are so many lessons He tucks inside our challenges as mothers! "Ask, and it shall be given you; seek, and ye shall find; knock, and it shall be opened unto you: For every one that asketh receiveth; and he that seeketh findeth; and to him that knocketh it shall be opened." Matthew 7:7,8. This was an opportunity to learn to ask, seek, and find! This is how my faith in Him grew over the years.

One other lesson took me quite a while to iron out...not just asking the Lord for wisdom, but asking my dear husband. Sometimes I thought of a solution to some problem we were having and would run with it. Later I would find out his wisdom would have saved me frustration or heartache. Learn a lesson from me the easy way,  talk with your husband before implementing any changes in your home.

Steve and I celebrated our 39th wedding anniversary this

                                       past week!

I'd encourage you to make of list of things that snag your family on Sunday mornings. For our large and growing family clothing was a major task that needed some contemplation.  I needed to find a way to make choosing and preparing our wardrobes so that getting ready on Sunday morning was a "non-issue".  

 

Our oldest son graduated from our home school in the picture from 2002.

Here I'm pregnant with our 11th child.

Simplicity had to be key to my method, so all the boys (I have 8) wore the same thing. In

the winter they wore navy slacks and a white oxford button down shirt.  In the summer we switched to kakhi slacks with a white short sleeved oxford shirt. To make things easier!  I made suspenders for the little boys that would grow with them and help keep their shirts tucked in.  It became a special "right of passage" to turn 13 and wear a belt! 

 On Wednesday nights they'd wear baby blue oxford shirts with their slacks. So, when I went thrift store shopping for church clothes I saved a lot of time by only having to look for two colors of pants, and two colors of  dress shirts.  I could buy these in any size knowing they'd be used eventually. I'd also look at clearance priced shirts that came in all sizes. We had a blue plaid seersucker shirt in several sizes that the boys wore to town with their overalls for years. 

We started our CSA in Dayton in 2003, and this was our first share being picked up. 

The boys are wearing their "going to town clothes".

 Things changed when my boys grew to be young men; they began to express a desire to wear plaid or stripped shirts. We found it was cheaper to shop at an outlet mall to purchase their shirts at reduced prices at the end of the season. That's also where we could get slacks with 36-38 inch inseams we needed! 

I am blessed with five daughters too, and the issue of clothes was even more complex weekly for them! I was tired of keeping up with sashes, several colors of tights that

This was a simple going to town dress.

matched the frilly dresses, and the hair accessories!  We began by making everyone a really nice matching dresses or jumpers. For years this worked splendidly! Then my oldest discovered clothes! :) So we eventually made a few jumpers that were dubbed,  "Sunday jumpers" and were set apart just for church. We also made more casual ones that were "going to town" clothes.  Since there was a distinction between their uses, I rarely had to say, "Go change into a Sunday jumper."  as it was just known what we should wear.   Since we sewed all of our clothes, making a couple Sunday outfits and a few casual outfits helped narrow their focus. (And the girls learned to sew!)

You may not be a sewer, but you can narrow your children's choices so they know without a doubt what    is acceptable to wear to church. This will also help you as you oversee the laundry, making sure the outfits are promptly put back into the closets clean and "ironed". 

That brings me to my next step to make Sunday more peaceable. NOTHING was put in the closet unironed! I was tired of spending Saturday night ironing, just to find that I had forgotten someone's shirt! If everything in our closets is neat and ready to be worn we could leave for town, church, or appointments at a moment's notice without any last minute scrambling. I was DELIGHTED when my girls could help with this job as they all know I dislike ironing! I still had to do it, but the volume of clothes needed ironing became much smaller...especially when we taught the teenage boys to iron their own clothes!  

Nowadays I RARELY iron! My life changed when I found a "wrinkle release" in the store one day last fall and discovered it worked wonders!!!!!!!!!! What was even better was that I found a DIY recipe for the expensive spray, and now I can mix up a batch in under a minute! 

                                     DIY WRINKLE RELEASE

• 1 teaspoon cream rinse (yes, what you put on your hair in the shower!!)
• 1 tablespoon white vinegar
• 2 cups warm water

Mix all three ingredients in a bowl with a wisk, or put it straight into a spray bottle and shake. You will only need to shake it for about a minute; then it will stay mixed. I used a permanant marker to write the recipe right on the bottle so I don't have to hunt for the recipe each time. 

 Hang your clothes on a hanger or lay flat on your washer. Spray. Then tug the material slightly and smooth out wrinkles with the palm of your hand. Hang to dry before putting them into your closet. If your item has a troubled spot that stays curled like hems or pockets, spray that area heavily. stretch the hem or finger press the collar into shape.  IT'S THAT EASY!! I've not ironed anything since we moved! 

Another troubled area I looked at that needed refining so I could have a more restful day was our food. I'll focus on your noonday dinner here, but breakfast can be the same 

weekly too so planning is easier. (We had a daughter make a breakfast casserole each Saturday and ready to pop in the oven when she got up Sunday.) 

Sundays in my mind always included the big Sunday dinner I grew up with. I eventually learned that a meal with meat was really fast food as it could cook slowly in a crock pot or a slow oven while I was away at church. To me it was/is a little miracle to season a roast or whole chicken and pop them into a crockpot or an oven set to 275 degrees, and also put rice in our rice cooker.  When we got home from church four hours later we were greeted with the pleasing aroma of a meal cooked and waiting for us!  This one practice hasn't changed much over the past 39 years. Today I use an Instant Pot, my crockpot, or even my oven to make our meal while we're away! 

 

We loved to make meals of all our own farm's products. We raised pastured chickens and grew our own produce. This summer Sunday dinner baked while we were away at church.

Sunday Dinner

 

1 Roast,  rinsed or 1 Chicken, rinsed, patted dry and rubbed with olive oil

Season Salt

Garlic Powder

• If you are roasting your meat in the oven, line your roasting pan with parchment paper if you can.
• Run your meat under running water to rinse it off.
• Plop your meat into your crockpot or roasting pan.
• Rub a bit of oil on your chicken. Roasts don't need it.
• Sprinkle Season Salt and Garlic Powder heavily on your meat, turning it to coat evenly.
• Place your meat in an oven set to 275 degrees, or a crockpot to the desired setting. (It all depends on how long you'll be gone to church.)
• If you have room you can put scrubbed potatoes, carrots and onions in to cook slowly with your meat!

A rice cooker or an Instant Pot with a rice setting is a worthy investment in my eyes. Every week we'd fill our rice cooker to the maximum capacity to fill hungry bellies when  we needed to stretch the meat! Nowadays I often just serve 2 vegetables and a salad instead of adding a starch to our meals. Now brown rice is a treat!

A major change came when we decided that we'd limit our Saturday night outtings. Instead we chose to stay home, get everyone bathed and have a "normal" evening. This one little change helped everyone get a good night sleep and eliminated cranky, overtired children! 

To help the children learn to sit still and quiet in church we began to train in that area too. Home schooling really helped as we began to practice sitting quietly during our morning read aloud time. My husband built the little ones their own stool to sit on at my feet while the older children sat on chairs or indian style on the floor. We read, practiced Bible verses and sang while unbeknownst to them they were practicing sitting still for church. Attitude was key here for me as well as for the children. 

By now people were thinking us a bit oddd Some even thought we were Amish as we dressed a bit differently, had a long line of towhead boys and girls following me, as we lived a simplified life.  (Nothing is really simple with a large family!) But all these practices helped us function more peaceably and opened many conversations with strangers on how the Lord had changed our lives! 

Many ladies told me to enjoy my older children as babies as "this time would pass all too quickly". I did enjoy them, and yes time flew by, but I felt I spent too much time out of services with my babies.  I didn't submit to this part of my calling easily. I often grumbled in my mind as I took my nursing baby out when they became hungry. So a lesson I learned was to submit to any lesson the Lord would have for me...whether it's leaving a service to nurse, taking a child out to train, or even staying at home with a sick child. If I had learned this lesson earlier,  I would have had such joy knowing I was right where the Lord wanted me to be. I learned to listen intently while I was in the service for a nugget of truth the Lord had for me. He was always faithful to feed me once I stopped fretting. If you too struggle with sitting in the nursery weekly,  learn from my struggle, for God has you where He can feed you and use you! I was able to talk with several women weekly that needed a word of encouragement or wisdom the Lord had given me in a particular area. You are not alone there nursing, you are serving the Lord!

There are many other areas I could mention, but the biggest change in the peace of our family on Sunday mornings came when we all worked together towards a goal of a peaceful day of rest. Olders buddied up with the little ones to make our day smoother, and  we set aside our afternoon just for that...REST.  Littles napped while olders read...and us Oldest napped too! :) We've always gone to an evening service too, so this was vital to having a restful  Sunday. We all looked forward to that time of rest, especially when we farmed full-time. 

Today with only three children at home things run very similar to when we had a houseful. One newest change I've made to help me is to set the table Saturday night with all the place settings we'll need for Sunday. For me that is two dinner plates, one water glass, two forks, two spoons, one knife. I serve water with most meals, so after breakfast we simply pick up the plate and silverware we used and refold our napkin and place it under the knife and spoon. No one has to set the table 3 times, and when we wake up we are prepared for an easy breakfast. Granola and homemade yogurt is my go-to easy meal for Sunday's breakfast. 

I make granola once every 2 months or so. It's a staple for my husband's midnight snack, granola bar breakfasts, toppings for yogurt sundaes, and more.  Below you'll find my OLD, OLD, OLD recipe that I learned to multiply. I now make over a 100 cup batch! It keeps real well in two 5-gallon buckets for storage. I have a Tupperware container that I keep on hand in the pantry for quick access. It is well worth the investment of time, and it's a great recipe to teach a child to make with you. Charity (12) has been helping me with this for a few years now. This week she and I mixed up two large bus tubs of the mix and she ran the pans through the oven on her own! 

This picture of raw granola is ready for the oven!

                                                          

Val's Granola

10 C. Rolled Oatmeal

10 C. Rolled 7-Grain (I didn't have this on hand this week, so I used more rolled oats.)

3 C. Coconut (I use unsweetened)

1 C. Raw Sunflower seeds

1 C. Raw Pumpkin seeds

1 C. Flax seeds

2 C. Coconut Oil

2 C. Honey, Sourghum Molasses or even Maple Syrup

Optional add-ins: Any kind of nut, Sesame seeds, or after baking you can add dry fruit

In a large saucepan warm the oil and sweetner.  While this is heating up, combine all the dry ingredients in a large bowl.  Mix well. We use our clean hands to mix at this point. When tiny bubbles begin to rise from the bottom of the pan (like the picture above), quickly pour it over the oat mixture. Using a large spoon, stir until completely coated. If your mixture looks a bit wet, add in more rolled oats until the oat mixture is just thinly coated with the sweet mixture. 

 

Line a large cookie sheet with parchment. (This is a time that you really would like parchment as it protects it from over browning.) Pour a layer of your granola onto the pan. Do not over fill as you'll be stirring it during the baking process. Bake at 350 degrees,  stirring every 5-7 minutes. I like it golden brown without dampness at about 20-25 minutes. 

Pour baked granola into a large bowl and let cool completely

I tried once again to bake two cookie sheets of 
granola at a time. It always burns!

before storing. I cover it with a towel and usually let my LARGE batch cool overnight. Store in an airtight container. This lasts for months. If anyone would like the bulk version of this recipe, just ask in the comment section below. I buy our oats in 50 pound bags, so this is easily done with storage grains. 

One of satan's tools for dividing a family is to create discord. As you look at the areas of your home that rob you of a worshipful spirit on Sunday (or any day for that matter) seek wisdom on how to turn that frustration into a blessing! 

A peek at my week on our lil' farm:

I picked our first large bowl of spinach this week! Now I can make Aunt Glen's spinach salad! If you'd like to make this too, search this blog for spinach recipes. 

Our gardens got daily watering and mild temperatures, so the peas have shot up two more support strings!

I love spinach, so we'll be planting a much bigger patch this fall, but for fresh eating, these partial squares are lush and beautiful!

Prayerfully we're done with store bought lettuce mix! I now understand why our customers LOVE our fresh produce! I am so spoiled to fresh, naturally grown, quality produce!

Our snap peas are climbing high, and I'm looking for my first bloom that should appear shortly! Don't tell anyone that I've been nibbling on the fresh shoots!

I snuck some weeding in between showers this week. These maple trees are weeds to me!

Did you know you can use radish for just about anything you can use a potato for? I'm looking forward to roasting them, boiling them, hiding them in casseroles and of course eating them fresh! (I even can them to add to our stew in the winter.)  I pulled one to see how big they were and gave it to Charity (12) who loves radishes. She quickly ate it alllll....even the tops with Ranch dressing! 

She has her own planted in her lil' 4 X 4' garden, so mine are safe for the moment!

I'll be cutting our first salad mixes this week, and these squares have a great mixture of greens to add to my lettuce and spinach.

We ran out of our elderberry glycerite last week, so I made four more pints. If you are interested in how I did this, just ask for directions in the comment section below. This has been one way I've bolstered my family's immune system during the pandemic. 

Our Memorial Day cookout was canceled because of the usual evening showers we've been getting. We snuck out between showers to toast some marshmallows though!

                Does anyone else's dog like marshmallows?

Luke (16)

                                    

                                           Levi (14)

Steve and I enjoyed a day away alone together for our anniversary. He got me picket fencing to go behind my new flower garden! (I've always dreamed of picket fencing!)

"I bought" him a new table saw so he can build our kitchen cabinets. His old saw was over 30 years old and we couldn't order parts for it anymore. 

Steve's been clearing trees and limbs from around our pond. Now the pond will be healthier and I'll be able to keep an eye on the children better!

What are your "hot spots" that put your family in a dither getting ready for church? What do you do to prepare your family for a day of rest? I'd love to hear about it in the comment section below. "As iron sharpeneth iron" we can help each other serve the Lord in our homes!

Abundant Blessings!

The Farmer's Wife,

Val Colvin

5 Lessons I Learned in the Garden About Children-Square Foot Gardening

We've had a busy week putting in our  75' X 100' garden. The weather was "perfect"...for the seedlings, not us. Storms chased us from our garden as we finished planting 480' of potatoes on the first day. The dark clouds remained as we planted kale, kholrabi, beans, okra, onions, leeks, melons, tomatoes, peppers, and other vegetables keeping us all misted. The farmer and I planted 50 asparagus crowns that will take a couple of years to produce. I even got to experiment with a no-till method for planting sweet potatoes! By midweek we were done. And by then tiny weeds in the cottage garden were needing my attention, while the snap peas needed training to the first string! 

I made bread too while finishing our last week of school for the year! This is our first year to not be schooling on our farm schedule. We usually did our book work until March 30th, and then we were all in the fields more. So this year marks our first "normal school year" while the public school were the abnormal ones! 

I'll share some pictures of my week at the end of this post...so stick around! These 5 things I've learned in the garden are reminders for us Grandmothers, and vital for young mothers to learn. I'm praying this post will enable you to be all God has called you to be whatever your present calling in life.

1.   Get the weeds out when they're small! The same goes for the "weeds" in our children's hearts and lives. They're never too young to begin learning. The younger they are, the easier it is to weed out the problems.

2.   Train your peas (or tomatoes) when they are short and just reach

the first string of support. If you wait for a better time in a few days, the vine may snap easily when you bend it into place. 

Your children learn best with the least effort and heartache in the first 5-7 years of their lives. It just so happens that's when you'll be the tiredest and busiest. Don't give yourself room for excuses. They'll emotionally "snap" in your relationship if you decided your're going to make up for lost time when they're older. 

3. Water your tiny seedlings daily, for their roots can't reach far for water yet.

 Share the Water of the Word (Bible) with your children daily, for they can't sustain themselves yet. Children love stories! Gather your children around you and read from a Bible Storybook daily...then open your Bible to a passage that goes with the story. (Ex. When reading about Samson, teach your children to "obey their parents in the Lord for this is right."  Samson could have avoided the trouble in his life if he had obeyed his parents. )

Another application is to shower your love on your children daily. I didn't come from a"huggy home" so this has been a learned experience for me...but children thrive with a hug, back scratch, or kind touch several times a day. For my youngest child, it's "butterfly kisses" when I say my final goodnight after praying in the dark of her room at night. Study to know your child, and a good balance of the Word and Love will nourish them.

4. There's a process called "hardening off" that a plant needs so they don't go into shock, wilt, and die when you transplant them.  Do not put them straight outside after careful tending (either from the greenhouse nursery or your own efforts). I put my plug flats of tiny seedlings on tables in the shade when they are almost ready to go into the garden. After a few days of getting used to the filtered sun and breezes I move them to another location that has more sun, but not full sun. After another day or two I move these tables with flats into full sun for a week or more. We often bring them inside in late afternoon if cold weather is forecasted for that night. When we can leave them out for a few nights and the evening temps are reliablly in the 50's and 60's, we plan a planting day in the garden. Even then I cover my most tender plants with shade cloth, an overturned flower pot (has holes on the bottom) or a couple of boards that I lean together to make a shadey covering. This gives the transplant a sheltered place to put their roots down. 

My application to children here is not accepted by most people...but sheltering a child until they are strong enough to stand for truth and not bend to the pressure to conform to this world is VERY important.  This is one reason we choose to home school our oldest son in 1986.  We took seriously God's admonition in Deuteronomy 6 to teach our children ourselves, for one day WE are the ones who will be held accountable. Later when we farmed full-time with 13 farmer's markets to run in east

Tennessee we needed to "divide and conquer"!  We chose to send a a younger out with an older (18 and up) who could help them learn to deal with the public at a market. They could give cautions to them and prayerfully keep a good eye on them as their "boundaries" were being stretched a bit. But we go most everywhere as a family, and it is a rare thing for a child to go out without a parent nowadays. 

If your child is in Little League,  public school, or even a Sunday School class,  they will be dealing with situations you are not in control over, and they may not be strong enough yet to deal with. Other people's values/agendas will become theirs. Shelter them as you would a seedling...be careful who you allow to watch your children for you...Decide ahead of time your guidelines for choosing reading material or tv programs. Even if everyone thinks you are smoothering your child, you know that one day the shade cloth of protection will gradually come off and your child will be strong enough to be all God created him to be. Until then, tend your lil' seedling till he's "hardened off" and ready to be transplanted in the world. Don't be in a hurry.

5. Stop to enjoy your garden's beauty! We rush through our days seeing only the things need tending. The garden reminds me to stop, be thankful for what God's growing, and to patiently wait for the harvest.

As busy Mommas we often work down our to-do list with an eye on the next item that needs completing. Since our move to this lil' farm in late January, the Lord has been teaching me to slow down and enjoy a quiet moment and be thankful for what He's doing.  I've had to set an alarm on my phone to remind me to take a "blessing break" mid-morning and afternoon. Ideally I like to grab my water cup and go sit by the pond for a few minutes (usually only 5-10 minutes) thanking the Lord for all He's doing in my life. If I am already in the garden or can't drop the chore I'm working on my mind can take time to be thankful.  I read once that if you don't see your prayers being answered, check up on how you are thanking the Lord for what He IS doing.  With my ever increasingly large family to pray for, I need to keep my eyes focused on what He has blessed me with and what He is doing. There's so much beauty all around me, so I need to focus on that!

My new cottage garden is starting to produce its bounty! The farmer and I  had our first salads yesterday with the tiny leaves pinched from the lettuce and spinach plants. Ohhh! I love walking into my garden and pinching off the first tender leaves that were heavy with droplets from the latest shower. My gardens are always a healing place. I never let the children squabble as they worked in the raised beds...there was always something to be excited about! 

HOMESCHOOLING MOMENT:

What's in your yard...park...or the sidewalk in front of your house? Mark off a 3' square (1' square for younger children) in the grass. Sprinkle white flour or around the edge of 

a yardstick or tape measure to mark off your square. Then, with a clipboard or notepad in hand along with a magnifying glass, make a list of all that you find. If possible go beneath the grass and count the bugs or worms. Are there wild flowers growing in your square? Identify them with field guides or Google Lens. (A neat feature we've used a lot this spring in Google Photos.) What weeds are growing in your square? For further research, find out what kind of soil you have to grow these weeds. (Ask Google, "What kind of soil grows clover?) Try to keep that kind of research for AFTER they've spent some time exploring, and even looked up a few things they've found in FIELD GUIDES or encyclopedias! Even little ones can do this with a buddy or parent guiding them. 

If you look closely at my raised beds you'll see squares marked off with wire. We use the square foot gardening method whenever possible, even in the large garden. https://squarefootgardening.com/ I won't go into a lot of detail as it's best to learn straight from the source.  I'd like to share how I used this gardening, and this particular method in our outdoor classroom. (If you have any questions though, just ask below in the comment section.)

From the fall of 1999 till almost 2005 we lived in a 1,000 square foot home with 10 children.  It was the original one room home (that had been added on to) that came with the farm. Long winters inside cramped little boys legs who ached to run in the woods!  By January the boys were more than ready to be outside and done with school work. I would tweak their studies a bit and turn them into a fun unit study on gardening that taught us all and helped the cramped inside days move quicker. Some of these are outdated, but still work today!

*When the seed catalogs came I tucked them away till we needed the diverson. Then I'd

pull them out for everyone to dream over. To my children they were the Sears & Robucks catalogs of my childhood. Dreams of fruitful gardens ran HIGH and lists of wanted seeds ran LONG. Each child made a list of their dream fruits and vegetables on lined paper. (Reading &Handwriting)

*When their lists were pared down, I copied the order form

from the back of the catalogs for them to learn to make out an order. Careful calculations needed to be made along with neat handwriting. To figure out the shipping zone they had to read the map and add in the right charges. Reality hit about then...and they began paring down more on their lists....and the process repeated for each seed company they wanted to order from. (Now, we often combined our order but this allowed each child to learn a skill and stay in a budget.)

*Then before their seeds arrived the children would make a garden journal with each vegetable having a

page. On the page they'd record the date they sowed the seeds, when they emerged, and any problems they may encounter such as bugs they identified, or a blight that hit. They recorded things like how much they harvested, and how much it would have cost at the store. At the end of the harvest a couple of our sons were able to talley how much their square foot beds saved the family from buying! We've drawn grafts where the children measured a cucumber vine each week and recorded its growth too. Our teenage boys learned to cross-pollinate vegetables to create their own hybrids, and even started their own seed company with seeds they saved in their gardens! There are many ways to learn through gardening!

*Square Fooot Gardening is a great way to teach little

ones to count. A 4X4' bed will have 16 squares in it, each 12" x 12". In each square they've figurred out how many vegetables can grow in that space. One tomato plant per square foot, 4 lettuce plants, 9 beets or beans, and 16 smaller root crops like fast growing radish or green onions (scallions). Children love to draw the dividing lines in the dirt and push their fingers in to make the spacing. The best kind of teaching you can do at any age is to work with your children, so include them (or in my case, I had to work to let them include me as they grew!)

 One 4 X 4' raised bed will feed one person throughout the season, and is a "curriculum" you can use from year to year. It will grow more each year as your child grows. Our little ones had a snack garden where they were allowed to pick from  it at any time, but they enjoyed it best right after their naps! They loved to pick

cherry tomatoes, pull a radish, and fill their pockets with snow peas or green beans as they ran off to the woods to "work in their camp". 

Levi and Noah here were learning to measure one foot. Then they hammered in a roofing nail for the the dividing wires. This is the best kind of math class a lil' boy can have!

This is was our outdoor classroom. The baby laid on a blanket where everyone could keep an eye on him, while the preschoolers could contentedly play or work alongside an older. The older children would sit quietly by their raised beds and make their daily entry into their journal (English composition, spelling, & handwriting) or measure their plants while pulling weeds or training climbing plants. We read aloud on the garden bench with little boys flaked out all over the grass. Morning snack time was fun as everyone shared what was growing in their beds, while discussing what we could pick for supper!

Isaac pulled green onions and is posing by his bed. 

This may be hard to read, but it's a first grader's copywork for the day. Since at this age they can't really write in a journal, they dictate what they would like to write to me and then copy it. Even younger ones practiced writing their letters on a garden theme...O is for onion, S is for squash, etc. We'd also do a lot of counting as we planted 9 bean plants to a square, or 16 radishes to a square.  

Our garden school grew the next year into a small business. We ran a CSA (Community Supported Agriculture) in nearby Dayton, TN.  We supplied a basket of vegetables to 23 families weekly. The two older boys below learned to also sell to restaurants and grocery stores!

Our first customer was another home schooling Mom!

We built more beds for our CSA and the work became a family affair. The weekly responsibilites grew our children in ways book work could never do. 

Adam created a pamphlet that we mailed out to all our friends and family.

(English composition & Computer skills)

Levi and Noah were our onion boys and weekly pulled and washed close to 200 green onions! (With MY help.)

Adam also was our lettuce and radish man, weekly picking, washing and packaging them for the baskets of vegetables we delivered to town. He loaded tables into the van and had a careful eye to what was needed before we left.

Caleb's steady help was a great example to the little boys. He filled sinks with hose water and had our packing area all set up by harvest time. He also harvested all the Swiss Chard, and labeled all our bags....and so much more!

Those were our farm's humble beginnings. But we look back fondly to those fun and carefree days in our gardens.

I had to include one more important thing I've learned in my garden...I really tried to keep it to just 5 things! But this last one is vital,  for along the edges of my garden this week there was grass that the mowers didn't get. If Luke (the baby above)  didn't weed eat right away the seed heads of the grass would lean over the new bed and drop its seeds. I knew from experience that later, they'd spring up and there would a problem because someone was too distracted with their own agenda to come and do the last bit of mowing.

Momma, this is one of satan's tactics. He'll keep us busy busy and distracted with the "crisis" at the moment (you know those things that pile up, or the mischief of a particular lil' one, or even our slothfulness) and we aren't attentive to the important issues. If they are left "uncut"  they will spring up later where you least expect them. Take the time to do what is important in God's eyes. Upcycling your latest yardsale find or making Pintrest meals can wait for a slower season of your life. When your children are young focus on the basics and train little hearts. Don't let the weed seeds fall on the fertile ground of their lives. You are working with the Master Gardener, Jesus Christ to "train them up in the way they should go" not the way they want to go. 

A glimpse at my week...............

                          Luke Alexander Colvin graduated from our home school !

The farmer turned the soil and disked the sod till we had reasonablly soft soil to plant                                                                           in. 

                Our new raspberries, blackberries and elderberries are coming to life!

Living frugally has always been our focus. With many mouths to feed and being careful stewards of what the Lord gives us, I try to find ways to use everything. These biscuits from Saturday were going stale, so I split them, buttered them and then set them on a griddle to freshen them. With homemade jam and honey, no one complained about stale biscuits!

Our new flock of  chickens were given a new run!

We planted potatoes as a family (with even one grandchild "helping") Monday evening until a hard rainstorm drove us from the field. 

The farmer and I planted 50 new asparagus crowns. That's a dramatic decrease from our 10,000 plants on our old farm!

My yogurt this week came out nice and thick...I've learned a lesson about making it in the Instant Pot, make sure it REALLY comes up to a boil (or 180 degrees) before cooling it. I trusted the machine and got two weeks worth of loose yogurt. I froze that yogurt in ice cube trays for smoothies this summer.

This week I made a 3X batch of bread so I could spend more time outside in the gardens. I fermented it overnight in this 3 gallon bucket. 

I got the itch last week to spring clean my new porch and dress it up a bit like I did at my old farmhouse. (The "quiant country cottage above was replaced by a "modern" farmhouse with a wide porch.) I rarely buy anything new, I just look around and regroup things to give a fresh look. I'll be adding plants to the wagon and adding to this until the farmer turned carpenter starts renovating the outside of our home. 

              I made sourdough flatbread pizzas for lunch one day this week. 

I picked our first salad this week! This scoop was made from an old honey container and I've used it all week watering seedlings, scooping potting soil, and then picking and washing the lettuce. 

The farmer bought a family pack of chicken breast on sale this week for $10. By dividing it up into three planned meals I'm set for the week ahead! Meat doesn't always have to be the star of the meal.

May God bless you and keep you this week as you serve HIM in your home. Be watchful for the weeds in your children's lives and stop to enjoy the beauty of the garden you are growing in them....there IS a harvest ahead!

Abundant Blessings,

The Farmer's Wife,

Val Colvin